February 10, 2008
Bangladesh’s battling battle-axes
As the British party led by David Miliband, the foreign secretary, drove through Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, we all noticed a gigantic queue of people, stretching several blocks. What were people lining up for? Apparently, the attraction was a book fair held on the university grounds. If nothing else, that confirmed Bangladesh’s reputation as an exotic place. But also one with powerful links to Britain. There are some 500,000 British-Bangladeshis - just under 1 per cent of the British population.
But Bangladesh scarcely features on the policy map in Britain, let alone in Washington. In some ways that is odd because the foreign-policy problems posed by Bangladesh are very similar to those posed by Pakistan. Both countries are struggling to restore a democracy that has been marred by feudalism and corruption in the past. Both are threatened by radical Islamism. It is true that Pakistan has nukes and a war on its border (and increasingly within its borders); but then Bangladesh has a claim to fame as a country that is directly threatened by climate change.
Everywhere Miliband went he emphasised the British government’s support for the idea that the caretaker government of Bangladesh, which took power after a de facto coup in 2007, must stick to its promise and restore democracy by the end of this year. I suspect Miliband is too intelligent not to harbour some private doubts about whether this is definitely a good idea - given the history of Bangladeshi democracy - but he stuck manfully to the message.
The two most important Bangladeshi political figures - Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wazed - are both currently under house arrest, accused of corruption. Their houses are quite close to each other. But they cannot meet, which is probably fortunate, since the two women loathe each other.
These two battle-axes have dominated Bangladeshi politics for more than a generation. I remember making a BBC World Service programme about the country in the mid-1980s and they were the two most important political figures even then. The caretaker government hopes to convict both of them of corruption charges by the end of the year, so taking them out of politics - and forcing Bangladesh to come up with new political leadership. But even the anti-corruption people suspect this isn’s going to work, and the two battle-axes will emerge from chokey to dominate Bangladeshi politics again. That is, unless the military decide they cannot face the prospect - and extend emergency rule, once again. Mr Miliband would not be pleased.
But the issue that probably most worries the Brits is Islamist radicalism. The Bangladeshis are remarkably insouciant about this. Yes, they say, 500 bombs were let off simultaneously by Islamist radicals - but that was in 2005. Several of the culprits have been caught and hung, and things have improved since then. Let’s hope so. Still, it was hardly re-assuring that Miliband had to cancel a trip to the Sylhet region - where 90 per cent of British Bangladeshis come from - because his security team deemed it too risky.
Small signs of the sort of breakfast deprivation or unfilled bar longings that one experiences in Pakistani/Bangladeshi hotels are showing. Cool! A line on Miliband’s “manhood”. “Battle-axes”–would you ever think to use the singular form for Mrs Clinton? Bangladeshis lined up to buy books–this strikes me as a bit patronising and certainly not Michael Palin’s style! (A comment on the limited penetration of online services may have been due here.)
I once shared a flight with Sheikh Hasina from Lisbon to Paris (I think it was in 1999). I was in the first row of the plane when two middle-aged women were escorted on board and seated opposite me moments before the door closed.
She was very gracious and clearly serious. Until we shared introductions, I was clueless as to whom she might be, but had noted the security retinue.
Her companion was an English woman in her 40s who fit the Raj-era image of a spinster schoolmarm. She was reading what I recall as something close to an Austen title with a knowing-but-fragile smile. (It would be interesting to know if such reading tastes are still relevant to academic testing there.)
Meanwhile, I can tell you that Zbigniew Brzezinski took his breakfast this morning (in a suit with three others) at the Four Seasons in Cairo. You may keep your eye out for him when traversing airports on the return home. Perhaps one could get some insights on where Obama intends to go with his recent foreign policy remarks.
Posted by: WCM | February 10th, 2008 at 12:55 pm | Report this commentWhy it is considered exotic for people to line up for a book fair? I’m from Calcutta, and we do the same for our book fair, which takes place over a fortnight every January. The crowds are always impossible, the fair ground is always dusty, the lines are always too long, and the books are always too expensive; but we all come just the same, even though we complain each year that we won’t be back the next. I’m glad Dhaka and Calcutta are so similar; we’re the same people after all, separated by the British in 1905, and later by politics and bloody history, but, still, very much the same culturally and linguistically.
Posted by: SM | February 11th, 2008 at 7:25 am | Report this commentMr. Rachman, don’t you have a book fair in your city, and don’t people line up for it? Why not?
Public pronouncements for elections differ from behind the scenes encouragement for the military - that’s the view of Dhaka’s middle class about the role of Western diplomats.
Posted by: Farid Bakht | February 11th, 2008 at 11:01 am | Report this commentCalcutta and Dhaka hold book fairs around the same time every year and they are both hugely popular.That’s where the similarity ends.
West Bengal is returning as an industrial power while Bangladesh deindustrialises under Aid guidance.
Regards to unfortunate Pakistan - that’s swiftly sliding into becoming a failed state.
Bangladesh is in (relatively) better shape though it could easily go the same way after decades of bad government.
However, there is a danger in looking at Bangladesh in ‘War on Terror’ terminology. It suits some ‘players’ and diverts attention from the real problem - incredibly callous elites and gross foreign interference (just one aspect of history that links Pakistan and Bangladesh).
Battleaxes? Seriously? I expect better from the FT. Alliteration does not make it funny or clever.
Posted by: Battleaxe | February 11th, 2008 at 3:08 pm | Report this commentToday we have a spot of Gideon bashing because he seems to be so politically incorrect and we have another soapbox added to our stall! A famous dead author no less.
What amazes about Bangladesh is the stunning population density with more than a thousand people per square kilometer. This is an amazing two and a half times more than the pop density in the Netherlands, the most densely populated regular European country which “only” has 400 per sqkm.
It is thanks to the regular flooding of the Ganges river that so many can sustain themselves in this manner, but it is an ecological disaster waiting to happen as sealevels are rising. A recent UN climate report states that the gletchers feeding the Ganges might disapear by 2030 at which time the river will be fed mainly by monsoon downpour.
Sayonara Bangladesh, we won’t care until it’s too late.
Posted by: felix drost, amsterdam | February 11th, 2008 at 7:34 pm | Report this commentWhy did a long queue for a book fair seem exotic - and even touching? Interesting question. I think partly because the people who still read books in Britain worry that we are moving into a post-literary society, in which most people don’t read anymore - they just play computer games. Miliband remarked to me that they don’t even have a book store in his constituency in the north of England (I can’t believe that, maybe he was exaggerating.) So it was amazing and touching to see people willing to queue for hours to get into a book fair.
Posted by: Gideon Rachman | February 13th, 2008 at 11:20 am | Report this commentBut - as one of the commentators remarks - it may also be a sign of the lack of alternative entertainment in Dhaka.
You all rather miss the 800 pound gorilla which is called amazon.com / co.uk - or probably never visited the Frankfurter book fair which last year almost attracted 300.000 - it is to be expected that in countries with low internet adoption and/or no next day free delivery internet shops but high literacy rates and established literary traditions a lot of people would visit a book fair.
The portion of the population that seeks literary content hasn’t decreased, that many of them find alternatives to the book as a source of literature speaks volumes for the increase in quality of non printed media; tv, movies, websites, audiobooks and even games. The ‘death’ of the cd is not caused by lack of interest in music but by changes in technology and the market.
Posted by: felix drost, amsterdam | February 13th, 2008 at 12:31 pm | Report this commentI find it interesting that this blog does not reflect on the economic aspects of the visit. In his blog on the same visit Mr Miliband mentioned visit to community where British aid is taking the line more of Hernando de Soto rather than Mohammad Yunus. He did not elaborate, but Gideon should have certainly done so here.
For those who might wish to become more familiar with a totally different aspect of Bangladesh, there will be several opportunities in London and Bristol between 14th and 17th February to hear Prof Mohammad Yunus talk about his book “Creating a World without Poverty”.
Gideon, you are very welcome to the lecture on 16th February at St James Church, Piccadilly, to see why Bill Gates was inspired to give his speech in Davos this year on compassionate capitalism shortly after meeting Dr Yunus in Seattle!
Posted by: Lilly Evans | February 14th, 2008 at 2:12 am | Report this commentAs de Soto makes the rounds, I watched “The War on Democracy by John Pilger”. Try to view it and let me know what you think. I reviewed it at peoplepowergranny.blogspot.com. I’m also doing a poll on the same subject.
Posted by: People Power Granny | February 16th, 2008 at 9:49 pm | Report this comment